Will Africa be left behind in the scramble for renewables?
Buoyant predictions about a rosy future for African photovoltaics, based on the continent’s abundant solar resources, continue to overlook the difficulties of securing investment, as Empower New Energy co-founder and CEO Terje Osmundsen explains, referring to a report published by the Africa Solar Industry Association at the World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi today.
Equity investment to back 150 MW of commercial solar in Africa
Norwegian developer Empower New Energy has secured $74 million of mostly public funds from investors and will top it up to build a $100 million, three-year cash pile.
South African data center signs up for 87 MW of solar
A large campus in Johannesburg – Vantage Data Centers’ first in Africa – will receive a third of its energy from solar panels.
‘African countries must unite to establish a green hydrogen economy’
Only by working together can African nations overcome the obstacles to exploiting their abundant renewables resources and producing affordable green hydrogen – for use at home and in a European economy keen to wean itself off Russian gas, an online event has been told.
Botswana-Namibia green hydrogen project expands to 5GW
The raised ambition of an already huge renewables-powered hydrogen project in the Southern African nations vividly demonstrates the hydrogen and clean energy potential of a continent which accounted for just 0.5% of the world’s new solar capacity last year, according to trade body AFSIA’s annual report.
A wave of big African solar is set to break
The Africa Solar Industry Association has recorded almost 2 GW of large scale project announcements since the start of last month with 18 countries planning new clean power infrastructure and including energy storage in the plants.
Plan to double size of 20 MW Madagascar solar park
The island nation’s first utility scale solar park is set to double in size and have energy storage added, with work due to start this month.
African solar installers feel the pinch of rising panel prices
With Chinese manufacturers having warned they will pass on escalating component costs, and shipping expenses soaring since last summer, the rising price of solar is forcing some installers to redraft quotes, pv magazine has discovered.
No bifacial solar in West Africa? That’s likely to change soon
A technology-focused event held by the Africa Solar Industry Association has heard development pipelines across the continent are swiftly changing to accommodate double-sided PV panels, and that’s good news for solar tracker providers too.
What will African nations require to produce competitive green hydrogen exports?
A robust national strategy, a portfolio of renewable energy assets, public subsidies and, ideally, existing gas pipelines will all favor African nations aiming to become exporters in the energy storage medium, participants heard at a recent two-day green hydrogen conference.
